The Trial of Saddam Hussein and The Fallout of The War

The Trial of Saddam Hussein

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The fallout in the Middle East from the regime change in Iraq

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

UN Action Sought

Defence lawyers in the trial of Saddam Hussein have appealed for UN protection, in the wake of the murder of Saadun Janabi and for a UN investigation into the murder.

They have made a direct written appeal to UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

The letter was signed by; former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella, former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, French former foreign minister Roland Dumas and former US attorney general Ramsey Clark.

The letter states that the failure of US and Iraqi officials "to provide protection to the defense and access to the defendants requires the transfer of any trials to a legal international forum if there is to be fairness in appearance and fact."

A British based lawyer on Saddam's team, Abdul Haq Al-Ani, has told the BBC that the court's jurisdiction must be dealt with before the trial continues.

In a rather bizarre piece of grandstanding Saleh Armuti, another lawyer working for Saddam, said that he wants to put George Bush on trial "at the same time as the fake trial takes place in Iraq."

No doubt this gives him some free publicity, but it hardly adds credibility to his defence case.

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